“So you say…” Illusion Unfeeling murmured, gazing up at the shimmering curtain of elven power. “If Willow-Brow’s Myriad Illusion Heavenly Demon Path were fully realized, and its foundations secure, I could simply devour and assimilate her essence. But as it stands, she is incomplete. Should her heart not be willing, the nascent, unstable Demonic Intent could easily shatter.”

A voice, soft as a falling leaf, drifted through the shimmering barrier. “First… aid me in slaying Wang Lin.” Willow-Brow’s gaze pierced the shimmering ward, her eyes, fixed upon the distant figure of Wang Lin, flickered with a complex hatred.

Even now, after so many years, hatred for Wang Lin consumed her, a venomous tide that threatened to drown her very soul. At times, she found the source of this burning spite elusive, almost ethereal. Yet, deep within her heart, the image of the youth she had seen at Heng Yue Sect, centuries ago, remained indelibly etched.

She could never escape the memory of Wang Lin’s tender affections for Li Muwan.

The events within the Vermillion Bird’s tomb had fanned the flames of her resentment into a raging inferno. And when, after leaving Vermillion Bird Star, she realized she carried his child, her hatred only deepened.

Yet, the Thousand Illusion Unfeeling Path, which she had dedicated herself to mastering, often blurred the lines of her own identity. Which was the true self?

“Unfeeling” and “feeling”—both contained the essence of emotion. A mere shift of emphasis, two different words, yet a chasm vast as the heavens and earth separated them.

Her heart was a labyrinth of tangled emotions, so complex that even she struggled to decipher them. Most often, her gaze was clouded with confusion, especially when she beheld her child.

“Very well, I shall do all in my power to fulfill this desire,” the Illusion Ancestor declared without hesitation, his voice as decisive as the strike of a hammer.

Willow-Brow continued, “The second request… if you fail to kill Wang Lin, deliver this storage pouch to him.” She drew forth a small pouch from within her robes, a flicker of tenderness gracing her eyes as she gazed upon it.

The Illusion Ancestor’s brow furrowed, yet he nodded in acquiescence.

Meanwhile, possessing Wang Lin’s mortal shell, the Scatter Demon pounded relentlessly against the shimmering barrier, each blow sending ripples across its surface, widening the cracks in its ethereal structure. The Scatter Demon’s laughter echoed through the heavens as it roared, “Shatter!”

The word ripped through the air like a thousand mirrors crashing to the ground. The final protective enchantment left by the Illusion Clan’s ancestor, the last bastion against the encroaching darkness, was shattered.

The Scatter Demon strode forward, its demonic aura consuming the very sky. Within the swirling miasma, Wang Lin saw Willow-Brow seated in meditation, her face serene. Behind her, the Illusion Ancestor stood, eyes closed, his right hand pressed upon Willow-Brow’s crown, a strange, unsettling energy emanating from his being.

“Hmm?” The Scatter Demon paused, sensing a shift in the atmosphere. The Illusion Ancestor’s eyes snapped open, revealing a glint of grey within their depths. With a sudden movement, he launched himself into the air, his body transforming into a wisp of smoke, ethereal and insubstantial.

“Not bad, little whelp! Your cultivation is…reminiscent of the Ancient Demons!” The Scatter Demon chuckled, a hint of amusement in its voice.

Wang Lin’s attention remained fixed upon Willow-Brow. Her eyes were closed, her breath still, her essence… gone.

A maelstrom of emotions churned within him, indescribable, undefinable. He did not withdraw his spiritual sense.

The Illusion Ancestor, now a mere wisp of spectral smoke, coalesced in the air, the grey light within his eyes growing in intensity. He exhaled deeply, his gaze fixed upon the Scatter Demon, who wore Wang Lin’s face. “I possess but one final skill. Do you dare face it?”

The Scatter Demon roared with laughter. “Unleash it, let us see what you have!”

The Illusion Ancestor closed his eyes once more. He had absorbed Willow-Brow’s Demonic Intent, reclaiming the elven power within her. While his cultivation had not been fully restored, he was not far from his peak strength.

However, facing the Demon who had merged with Wang Lin, he had no confidence of victory. Even escape was beyond him. Thus, he pinned all his hopes upon a sliver of the Faceless Heavenly Demon Path within him.

Having devoured Willow-Brow’s will, merging it with his own Myriad Illusion Faceless Path, he had finally managed to stir a spark of Faceless Heavenly Demon energy within himself. But it was a mere ember, barely alight.

As the Illusion Ancestor’s eyes closed, an unearthly aura emanated from his being. His face contorted in agony, his body withered with unnatural speed, transforming into a skeletal husk.

Then, his very bones dissolved and vanished. Finally, the Illusion Ancestor’s physical form dissolved completely, leaving only a storage pouch, untouched by the disintegration due to the Ancestor’s last will. The pouch fluttered to the ground.

A swirling cloud of grey mist erupted from the void where his body had been, coalescing around his soul.

As the grey mist engulfed the soul, the soul grew transparent, as if fading into nothingness. But in that very instant, a searing premonition of danger stabbed through Wang Lin’s heart.

The Scatter Demon, however, merely watched with keen interest, its eyes gleaming with anticipation. “Intriguing… most intriguing!”

The Faceless Heavenly Demon Path was a true transformation into the Faceless Heavenly Demon itself. All life in this world could be twisted into Demonic form, a true Faceless existence. Gather the Demonic thoughts of all beings, merge them with the Myriad Illusion Heavenly Demon Path, and become a free and unfettered Faceless Heavenly Demon!

The Illusion Ancestor’s physical form was gone, his soul dissolving into nothingness. And then, from every direction, countless illusory apparitions materialized, each one radiating a terrifying power, each aura possessing the strength of the Yin Yang Void Realm, with some even surpassing it.

This power was the Faceless Heavenly Demon Path, a truly terrifying force. It had only just begun to show itself.

But then, a plume of black mist erupted from Wang Lin’s crown, The Scatter Demon tore itself from Wang Lin’s body, and with a leap, it flew into the air, its mad laughter echoing through the heavens. Opening its maw, it began to devour the newly formed illusions. A majority of them vanished into the Demon’s gullet in an instant.

“Such nourishment! You please this Demon, little whelp! You bring such delightful delicacies to me as gifts. If not for a prior agreement, I wouldn’t want to kill you!” The Scatter Demon roared with laughter as it swallowed another wave of illusory apparitions.
With the Scattered Fiend banished, Wang Lin reclaimed mastery over his mortal form. In a flash of movement, he descended to the earth, striding forth to stand before Willow-Eyebrow.

Her eyes were closed, and the spark of life had fled her vessel. Her cultivation had reached the Ascendant realm, where her Intent intertwined with her nascent soul. Now, with her Intent consumed, so too was her life-bound spirit extinguished.

Elsewhere, as the Slow Fiend feasted, all illusory phantoms vanished, and at last, the ethereal form of the Phantasm Ancestor coalesced in mid-air, his face etched with bitter regret.

His Formless Skyfiend possessed but a sliver of its true power. Had Willow-Eyebrow fully realized her Intent, he could have transcended into a true Formless Skyfiend, never to become mere sustenance for the Scattered Fiend.

With a silent lament, the Phantasm Ancestor stirred, readying himself for flight.

The Scattered Fiend roared with laughter, his demonic aura unfurling, engulfing the heavens. The Phantasm Ancestor was ensnared within its grasp, and with a single, all-consuming gulp, he was no more.

“Child Wang Lin, the debt is paid!” The Scattered Fiend turned, casting a chilling glance at Wang Lin before stepping towards the void, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Silence descended, the Phantasm Clan reeling. The events of the day had filled them with awe and a deep-seated respect for the man before them.

Wang Lin gazed upon the still form of Willow-Eyebrow, speechless for a long while.

Hesitantly, Phantasm Fengshen stepped forward. “Honored Daoist, before she fell, Willow-Eyebrow made a pact with Phantasm Unfeeling. Should he fail to slay you, he would bequeath you a storage pouch.”

Wang Lin raised his gaze to the storage pouch that had fallen when Phantasm Unfeeling’s body dissolved. With a wave of his hand, it floated into his grasp.

Within lay a single pill, a jade slip, and nothing more.

Taking the jade slip, Wang Lin delved into it with his divine sense.

“The pill is a balm for the怨气 of the child, to be used in conjunction with a cultivator skilled in lightning arts, and can resolve most of the residual effects left by my master who wishes to leave her essence with you. In the past, I could not, now I have done it.”

A gentle breeze swept across the ground, stirring the dust and brushing against Willow-Eyebrow’s body. Slowly, a diamond-shaped fragment detached from her brow, fluttering away on the wind.

At that moment, more fragments emerged from her body, drifting backward, until her entire form dissolved into countless shards, like butterflies taking flight. As the wind carried them higher, a vision of Willow-Eyebrow seemed to materialize in the air. She looked down upon the earth, brushed a stray lock from her face, and with a gentle smile, walked on, fading into the distant horizon.

Wang Lin raised his head to the sky, lost in contemplation.

“Beyond the cycle of life and death lies karma. The seeds of the past bear fruit in the present. Dust to dust, earth to earth. It was but a fragment of memory, a dream yet to be awakened.” Wang Lin sighed softly, then turned and departed.

“Was she truly gone?” Wang Lin, receding into the distance, did not seek to answer that question. Whether Willow-Eyebrow lived or died, it held no significance for him. The dust had returned to the dust, and the earth had returned to the earth.

The members of the Phantasm Clan watched Wang Lin’s form diminish until he vanished beyond the horizon, leaving behind an indelible memory etched into the annals of their lineage.

Wang Lin did not extinguish the Phantasm Clan. He was weary, bone-weary…

Not of the body, but of the soul.

Eight hundred years of cultivation had burdened him with too much.

In the days that followed, in a village nestled upon the star of Dan Yun, there appeared a peculiar family – a young man, though his eyes held the weight of ages, and an infant child.

Meanwhile, in the starry expanse of the Luo Tian Starfield, Greed Wolf roamed, his face contorted with rage. The Brands upon his soul were too numerous, too potent, and their mere thought sent shivers down his spine.

“Damned Wang Lin! If I fail to find him, these Brands will overwhelm me, and I shall meet a gruesome end!”